Conor McGregor.... you hear the name and instantly it brings heat, hype and excitement.

Fluent in his speech and movement, accurate with his predicitons and strikes, McGregor is a phenom. The Irishman has marketed himself better than anyone in the UFC, and now approaching his 5th fight in the UFC a title shot looks imminent. Has he earned it? Is it being gifted? Has he faced the strongest available opposition?

Coming into the UFC with a picture perfect knockout of Ivan Buchinger, holding both the Featherweight and Lightweight Cage Warriors titles McGregor was already carrying a lot of promise, visible to many of MMA's harcore fans, and beginning to reach more casual fans with the release of 'The Rise of Conor McGregor' which featured on MTV.

McGregor dominated and outclassed Marcus Brimage, finishing the Alabama based fighter in just over 1 minute. Displaying fantastic charisma in his post fight interview, he had already won over a majority who had just watched him, displaying humour, humblenss and confidence, calling Dana out for Knockout of the Night. McGregor has since dispenced of young prospect Max Holloway, dangerous TUF veteran Diego Brandao and WEC veteran Dustin Poirier, 2 of which were finished in the first round.

The one criticism from the start has been "He hasn't faced a wrestler." Which is true, he hasn't. Currently 5th in the featherweight rankings, Cub Swanson, Ricardo Lamas and Frankie Edgar lie ahead of him behind reigning champion Jose Aldo. In his upcoming fight McGregor will take on veteran striker Dennis Siver, ranked 10th. Again it's not a wrestler but Siver is dangerous and the fight will showcase a little more McGregor's ability.

Under normal circumstances I'd be all for McGregor facing either Ricardo Lamas or Frankie Edgar if he beats Siver, but here's why I'm not. Aldo has already beaten Edgar, Lamas and Swanson, aleit Swanson being nearly 6 years ago. So providing McGregor beats Siver, it would make sense for the hyped superstar to have his crack at the title. McGregor vs Swanson would be a fantastic match-up but would leave Aldo without a worth adversory in the mean time.

At the end of the day everyone wants to see McGregor vs Aldo whether it's to see McGregor dethrone the champion and continue to prove the hype is real or to see Aldo put on another dominant display and fight off another contender. The Notorious one has followed through with every claim he has made so far, to the point where you find it hard to believe anyone can stop him. His confidence is sky high and it's not hard to see why. He's now the poster boy of the UFC, making big money and gaining more and more hype as times goes on.

For me, McGregor deserves the next shot with a win over Dennis Siver. What do you think? Should he have to prove himself once more or will a dominant victory over Siver cement a deserved title shot?​

He is a title challenger. He will get rushed into a shot he doesn't deserve yet, and probably lose and get derailed. He will then lose most of his steam, and get a few mid level fights. This will cause him to be a Hype Victim, if you will.

Personally, I would rather he fight 3 guys in the top 10 with different styles. I would like to see him prove it. If he is the GOAT, then don't kill him early. Let him develop his gifts and rise naturally. Siver is a good opponent for him, but this is a gimme fight and we all know it. Connor is expected to win in impressive fashion. Now, if he does beat Siver impressively, that doesn't make him great, rise him in the rankings or earn him a title shot.